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Unit information: Advanced Professional Development in Theatre and Performance in 2024/25

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Advanced Professional Development in Theatre and Performance
Unit code THTRM0015
Credit points 20
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Dr. Wozniak
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

None

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

None

Units you may not take alongside this one

THTR30023 Professional Development in Theatre and Performance

School/department Department of Theatre
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

Why is this unit important

Advanced Professional Development in Theatre and Performance gives students on Masters Level programmes a structured and supervised opportunity to develop their learning and professionalism to an advanced level. Students will apply skills and knowledge from their academic studies to a real-world challenge in creative employment and will prepare for life and work beyond university. Students will spend a minimum of 75 hours in partnership with a professional or community organisation to develop their professional skills. Students will undertake a project which engages with an organisation in a community or professional context, and which is mutually beneficial for them and the organisation.

Students will receive supervision from an allocated tutor from the department, as well as benefitting from input from professional services in the University, in order to develop their professionalisation. Students will be enabled to develop their professional experience outside of the academic context of the department and establish links with the creative and cultural industries and/or with communities.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study:

This unit provides a segue from the world of the university to the world of work. Undertaking a placement or role in your chosen industry or profession, you will be taught valuable networking and professional skills during the unit. You will be able to apply skills that you have developed during your study, but also gain invaluable knowledge of creative industries or communities to inform your next professional step, while building your understanding of the opportunities provided by and challenges faced by the sector and grass-roots organisations. You will be supported in your journey through a range of professionalisation lectures and sessions held in the Department, which are run with and alongside industry professionals and alumni, as well as academic supervision throughout your placement or project. As well as acquiring professional skills, you will also develop your ability to reflect on your professional development and evaluate your workplace contributions in a critically-reflexive way.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content

Advanced Professional Development in Theatre and Performance is a unit during which students spend a minimum of 75 hours working in a professional context. This may take the form of

  • A work placement, either self-sourced or with one of the department’s partners
  • Volunteering
  • Delivering a self-authored project within a professional or community organisation
  • Developing their own freelance work or project

Assessment is authentic in that is results in the ‘real world’ application of the skills and knowledge developed during the programme. This takes the form of a project report – a 20 minute or 2500 word assessment which explores an area which may be of use to the organisation with whom they have worked. Students are also assessed via a professional skills portfolio which comprises of a skills audit and a 1000 word reflection upon their skills development. Both forms of assessment provide an important opportunity to test and reflect at the moment that the student is pivoting from education into full time work.

How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit

Students will have experienced a real-world project with a professional or community partner which will allow them to link the skills and attributes developed on their degree to a context outside academia.

The unit aims to:

  • Develop advanced professional skills to enhance students’ employability through developing evidence of working in partnership with a creative or industry partner
  • Develop student’s understanding and evaluation of the relationship between academic learning and the world outside the academy
  • Give students the opportunity to evaluate how creative work engages practically, through completing an appropriate project in a in real world context
  • Promote advanced professional and critical self-reflection.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to demonstrate:

(1) The ability to interpret, appraise and respond confidently to a professional, civic or community brief.

(2) The detailed development,auditing and evaluation of professional skills.

(3) Advanced critical understanding of the relevant wider cultural and artistic contexts.

(4) The ability to evaluate their own work and development in a critically-reflexive manner.

(5) evidence a detailed engagement with future employability and transferability of skills into a relevant industry or role

How you will learn

Students will receive a range of lectures and workshops relevant to their professionalisation (11 x 1 hour). In addition they will receive supervision from an academic member of staff (5 x 1 hour meetings). Students should also complete a minimum of 75 hours working for, or with, a partner organisation or clie

How you will be assessed

Summative assessments:

Project Report (40%) [ILOs 1, 3] 20 minutes or 2500 words (or equivalent contribution to a wider group authored report for a common mark)

Students will research and write a report, exploring an area or issue that may be of use to the partner organisation or client. Where possible, this should be developed, and in a form agreed, with the partner organisation or client. The report should draw on their placement or project and an understanding of the wider cultural, artistic and professional contexts. This should demonstrate a critical appraisal of the particular challenges faced by the sector within which they were engaged and be of potential use to the partner organisation.

Professional Skills Portfolio (40%) [ILOs 2, 3, 4]

The specific content and structure of the portfolio will depend on the individual project, and will thus be agreed between the student, the partner contact/organisation and the unit co-ordinator. It should, however, contain the following:

  • Completed audit form of professional skills, potentially including evidence and contribution from mentor or client
  • 1000 word reflective analysis of skills development

Career Development Plan (20%) [ILOs 2, 3, 5] 1500 words

Students will identify and analyse developmental needs for their personal career development by researching an existing role, or a role they would seek to create, in a relevant industry or context. They will compare their existing knowledge, skills and attributes to those needed for the identified role (including reference to Professional Skills Frameworks where relevant) and detail the steps they need to take to successfully obtain this role.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. THTRM0015).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.

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